Winter Haven Man Says City Owes Him Tax Refund

Kevin Henne is in a dispute with Winter Haven city officials over a property tax refund he says he is owed after his house on Ninth St. S.E. was annexed in 2011.

By RYAN E. LITTLETHE LEDGER

WINTER HAVEN | It started with a letter that city officials said should have never been sent.

The letter, penned by Community and Economic Development Director David Dickey, told Winter Haven resident Kevin Henne the city would refund him five years of property tax money after his 2011 annexation into the city.

Now, Henne wants his money, but a Florida law prohibits the refund of city property taxes.

Henne alleges city employees told him they hoped to hide the deal by not creating a paper trail and making untraceable payments.

City officials deny Henne's assertion and say they see the letter as a promise made by someone without the authority to do so. But Henne, a long-time optometrist in Winter Haven, said it's a promise from the city to pay him about $5,500.

"Why will the city of Winter Haven not honor its written agreement with me?" Henne asked commissioners at a May 13 commission meeting.

"They had told me before that they were not going to keep any records because they didn't want a (paper) trail, then they are using it against me because they are saying there is no trail."

PROBLEM ANNEXATION

Henne's home at 2109 Ninth St. S.E. was annexed into the city after he signed an agreement required of anyone needing to use city water or sewer services.

Since the late 1980s, Winter Haven has required anyone hooking up to city utilities to sign an annexation agreement if the property is contiguous with other property already inside city limits.

Florida law prohibits the annexation of property that is not contiguous.

Henne's home was officially annexed into city limits in August 2011, but it made him one of the few properties on his street not in unincorporated Polk County.

Henne said he contacted city officials to discuss the problem back in 2011. He was upset about the annexation because he said city officials had told him it was unlikely he would be annexed because other homes on his street couldn't be.

Henne said he contacted then Mayor Jeff Potter and then City Manager Dale Smith, and that's when Henne says Dickey offered to rebate the five years of property tax revenue.

Henne said he didn't ask for it but agreed, with an understanding that it was a way the city could make up for what he saw as an improper annexation.

Dickey wrote the letter Jan. 21, 2011. It promised five payments over five years for property taxes Henne would now be required to pay each year, plus a refund on other charges paid for impact and connection fees.

Henne said he believed the issue was settled until he received his 2012 tax bill. When he requested his rebate, everything began to change.

Henne said he was referred to Finance Director Cal Bowen.

In those conversations, Henne says Bowen and City Attorney John Murphy were concerned about setting a precedent and wanted to make a one-time payment as opposed to five individual payments. Henne said they explained that anyone looking at the city's finances would have trouble spotting the one-time payment.

City spokeswoman Joy Townsend said Bowen did say at the time that he thought it was best to make the payment in one sum if the city attorney and other city officials approved the payment, but only for bookkeeping ease and not for any other reason.

Murphy denied Henne's assertion that the city would seek to avoid a paper trail and said if he had been involved earlier in the issue, the illegal promise of a property tax refund would never have been made.

But Henne said Murphy was involved in the dispute from the beginning.

Commissioners considered a refund on impact fees at the May 13 commission meeting and asked Henne if he would be willing to accept such a payment. That payment would give him about $3,000, but less than the $5,500 that would be due if the city paid him for five years of property taxes.

Henne said he didn't want to take less than the $5,500 he was promised.

Commissioners asked staff to come up with additional options so they can take up the issue at another commission meeting.

PROBLEM LETTER

City records show Dickey sent the letter to Henne after discussions with Smith and Murphy. But what isn't clear is how much of what was finally contained in the letter was approved by Smith or Murphy.

Dickey has worked for the city for about seven years.

On May 13, Murphy said he was not aware of the letter until after the fact but an email sent to Potter, Smith and Murphy on Dec. 7, 2010, shows Murphy had some knowledge of the situation.

In the email, Dickey wrote: "Dale (Smith) and I are speaking with John about the possibility of some form of payment to Dr. Henne equal to 3 years of property taxes."

Murphy also billed the city for a "telephone conference" with Dickey about the issue and reviewed the Dickey email.

But Murphy said Friday he didn't know Dickey was going to write the letter including the promise of a rebate of property taxes during the December conversation.

"I was not aware that a letter was sent until after it had been sent," Murphy said. "David did send me the (initial) email, and we had a brief discussion in December of 2010, but it was unresolved. We had talked about different things, but I had no knowledge that he was going to go ahead and send a letter saying what it did."

When Dickey was asked about Henne's allegations after Monday's commission meeting, he said, "There's nothing to comment about."

Additional calls to Dickey were not returned, and an attempt to reach him through the city spokeswoman was unsuccessful.

Smith also did not return a call.

City Manager Deric Feacher, who took over for Smith in February, said he is in the process of a full investigation.

Feacher said he knew about the letter before becoming city manager but only understood the full scope of the situation after Monday's commission meeting.

Commissioners questioned how the letter could be sent by a city official, but the stopped short of criticizing any individual.

"How does something like this even get out into somebody's hand?" Commissioner Steven Hunnicutt asked. "I'm not a lawyer, but I have a real, real problem as one of the elected officials sitting up here that this is happening."

[ Ryan Little can be reached at ryan.little@theledger.com or 863-401-6962. Follow him on Twitter @LedgerRyan ]